The present invention relates to air transportation of containerized cargoes and more particularly it relates to the devices for fixing cargo containers in aircraft compartments.
The invention will be utilized most successfully for automatic fixing of cargo containers carried by aircraft.
Known currently are several methods of fixing containers in aircraft compartments, said containers being conveyed to the point of their stowage by a movable element in the form of a carriage.
In one of said methods the containers bear against one another and the end containers are fixed by stops rigidly installed on the end walls of the compartment and contacting the first and the last containers. The containers bear against one another both by their pallets and bodies.
Disadvantages of the above method of fixing containers consist in that the stops mounted on the compartment walls carry the load of the total number of containers held in the compartment since all containers thrust against one. Hence, the end walls of the compartments are subjected to heavy loads and have, therefore, to be made solid and heavy.
Besides, for bearing against the walls, the container bodies must be made excessively stiff which increases the weight of the entire containers. Such a method of fixing containers against one another complicates their handling also because in the case of loading the cargo compartment of the aircraft with an incomplete set of containers, it is necessary to provide some additional devices for fixing the end containers.
Also known in the prior art is a device for fixing cargo containers in aircraft compartments consisting of stops arranged on the compartment floor.
Each stop consists of a body rigidly fixed on the cargo floor and accommodating an articulated turnable stop mounted on a horizontal axle and occupying one of the two positions in service, i.e. the working (vertical) position in which the stop bears against the container pallet and thus fixes the container, and the retracted (horizontal) position; in both positions the stops are locked by spring retainers. Each stop is shifted from one position to the other by hand.
Before loading containers into the cargo compartment and moving them there, all the stops on the way of said containers must be retracted while after placing each container in its place the fixing stops must be shifted to the working position.
A disadvantage of this device consists in the use of manual labour for handling the containers and in the necessity for moving each stop by hand from the retracted to the working position and back which increases considerably the container loading and unloading time.